#1 Orioles First Playoff Win At Camden Yards Since 1997 Vs. #2 Prayer In Thin Air

Zach: And so it all comes down to this. Welcome to the Baltimore Sports Moment of the Year championship. Honestly, I think we’ve got two well deserved moments in what will be an incredibly difficult selection. But that’s what this thing was all about.

The Prayer in Thin Air won the Robinson region and is our lone Ravens moment because it was the most important part of the Baltimore Ravens Super Bowl run. Without the dramatic comeback in Denver, there would be no championship. If the Super Bowl was what you’ll always remember about the 2012-2013 season, then you’ve got to vote for the Prayer in Thin Air.

But for me, I’ll always remember it as the year that the Orioles finally turned it around. And when I’m 80 years old, I’ll tell my grandkids about the night I watched the Orioles defeat the Yankees in game two of the ALDS. They’ll be so tired of hearing about it because grandpa Zach will always be blabbering about the first Orioles playoff game he ever attended. I’ve voting for the #1 seed.

Lund: Wow. An interesting match up that I wasn’t expecting. The Prayer in Thin Air is one of my favorite moments of not only last season, but since the Ravens came to Baltimore in 1996. The implications were so significant, it will go down as one of the greatest plays (or non-plays, depending on how you look at it) in NFL history. But, it’s not a Super Bowl moment. It certainly helped the Ravens get to New Orleans, but I was looking for a Super Bowl moment.

Not to take anything away from the Orioles moment representing the Johnny Unitas bracket. Being a huge Orioles fan, this moment has to be it for me when I think about the Sports Moment of the Year. The electricity in Camden Yards after Game 2 was something I’ll never forget. The fanbase was more than ready to see the Birds get in the “win column” and they did it against the hated Yankees. This contest will be very close, but my vote goes to the O’s playoff moment to win.

Pat: Well I’m certainly shocked to see the Orioles playoff win here, really any Orioles moment for that matter. I figured the finals would pit one huge Ravens playoff moment against another, just because of how fresh in everyone’s minds those games are. But here we are, with two slim chances taking center stage to determine the biggest sports moment in Baltimore in the past year.

I think it’s pretty much on the record now that I’m more supportive of the Orioles than the Ravens. After all, being a Mets fan rarely prevents me from pulling for the O’s, while being a Jets fan almost always pits me against the Ravens. I’ve been voting for O’s moments throughout almost this entire tournament. Not this time. As monumental as that first playoff win in Camden Yards was, there will be more like it to come. In time, it will just be regarded as one of (hopefully) many home playoff wins for the Orioles.

On the other hand, plays like what happened out in Mile High come along about as often as comets or eclipses, and are similarly unforgettable. Everything needs to align just right, and even then the execution still has to be perfect. Baltimore fans will see plenty more playoff wins. I don’t think they’ll ever see something quite like the Prayer in Thin Air. So that’s my vote.

Jabby: This Championship matchup just makes sense. Think about it. The freaking Orioles WON a playoff game at the Yards vs. Yankees. On the other side of the ledger, you have what could have changed the Ravens and Joe Flacco as you presently know them in the Prayer in Thin Air. If that prayer was not answered, would Mr. Pizza Hut himself be swimming in $52mil? I think not.

But for this Orange Koolaid drinker the nail-biting, gut wrenching 3-2 win over the hatred Yankees and their tight, Jeter-shirt wearing “fans” wins the title. Besides the actual win, the OPCAY real fans were on display on this rain delayed Monday night. Remember, it was only 24 hrs prior when the Yanks dropped 5 in the top of the ninth to break open a 2-2 game. But Monday night, despite another rain delay the true Orioles diehards made their presence heard from the first pitch. And when JJ rebounded from his Game 1 debacle and struck out A-Roid swinging Camden Yards was actually shaking (at least in the center field bar).VOTE NOW
Voting is open from 8:00 AM on Wednesday March 13 to 8:00 AM on Thursday March 14.

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